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Infectious Diseases

Our scientists are working to understand how environmental conditions influence infectious disease risk. In today's rapidly changing world, protecting human health requires an ecosystem-based approach to monitoring and addressing emerging infectious diseases, such as Lyme disease and West Nile virus.

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Our Work

Cary Institute visitors often encounter researchers in white coveralls. Their suits help prevent unwanted tick bites while they investigate the ecological conditions that regulate Lyme disease risk. As human populations move into suburban and rural environments, encounters with infected black-legged ticks have increased. In the Northeast, Dutchess County has one of the highest human infection rates.

Research conducted at the Cary Institute has correlated the prevalence of infected black-legged ticks with land use and biodiversity loss. When the landscape is highly fragmented and white-footed mice dominate, human risk increases. In intact landscapes with a diversity of animals, such as opossum and fox, human risk declines. This is because non-mouse hosts are less likely to transfer Lyme disease to ticks.

An analogous finding is seen in West Nile virus research. Infection is most common in developed areas, where blue jays and crows dominate local bird populations (the virus is amplified in their bodies). In less developed areas, where the native bird fauna is more diverse, human risk decreases.

The “dilution effect” has applications to other infectious disease systems and highlights the importance of species protection in land-use planning.

The Tick Project is testing whether environmental interventions can prevent tick-borne diseases in our communities. The need for prevention is stronger than ever, with expanding tick populations and more than 300,000 Americans diagnosed with Lyme disease each year.

Why do the majority of human infectious diseases originate from wildlife? Our lab seeks to identify intrinsic characteristics of wild species (e.g., life history, ecological, physiological traits) that signal their potential to be future reservoirs of zoonotic diseases (human diseases with animal origins).

When it comes to addressing infectious disease, we have a short attention span. In the case of Zika, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency based on a strong association between Zika infection and microcephaly in newborns.

As part of the PBS series, Global Health Frontiers, Cary's Rick Ostfeld and other wildlife sleuths work to unravel complex factors driving the explosive spread of Lyme disease in a yard-to-yard battle to try and turn the tide.

In the recent issue of EMBO reports, Barbara Han of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and John Drake of the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology call for the creation of a global early warning system for infectious diseases.

Two institutions in the Hudson Valley have received a $5 million grant for a large-scale study aimed at reducing tick populations and Lyme disease. The five-year project is the first to explore Lyme disease management for entire communities.

Dengue fever and chikungunya are transmitted to humans by two species of mosquitos, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. There are no vaccines for these viral diseases and while not often fatal, they can disable victims with painful symptoms for weeks or months.

For human health, one emerging concern is that we do not fully understand how the geographic ranges of vector-borne diseases—those caused by parasites, bacteria, and viruses transmitted to humans via an intermediate host organism—are being influenced by climate change.

In the eastern US, risk of contracting Lyme disease is higher in fragmented forests with high rodent densities and low numbers of resident fox, opossum, and raccoons. These are among the findings from an analysis of 19 years of data on the ecology of tick-borne disease in a forested landscape

For human health, one emerging concern is that we do not fully understand how the geographic ranges of vector-borne diseases—those caused by parasites, bacteria, and viruses transmitted to humans via an intermediate host organism—are being influenced by climate change.

As part of the PBS series, Global Health Frontiers, Cary's Rick Ostfeld and other wildlife sleuths work to unravel complex factors driving the explosive spread of Lyme disease in a yard-to-yard battle to try and turn the tide.

There are approximately 3,500 mosquito species in the world. Of those, only a few hundred are known to bite humans. And just two have adapted to breed almost exclusively in urban environments where they are in close proximity to people.

In New York's Hudson Valley, it's hard to go outside without stepping on an acorn. Oaks have 'boom and bust' acorn production cycles. In lean years, trees produce a handful of nuts. In boom years, acorns seem to rain down from the sky.

Globally, there are more than 3,000 mosquito species, with around 150 native to the U.S. To many listeners – a mosquito is a mosquito. But depending on the species that bites you, mosquitoes can be a nuisance or a public health threat.

From Ebola and bird flu to Lyme disease and West Nile virus, most emerging infectious diseases are transmitted from animals to humans, with more than a billion people suffering each year. Safeguarding public health requires effective surveillance tools.